Thrust transmitting retainer for shaft mounted members



Patented Sept. 1, 1953 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE THRUST TRANSMITTING RETAINER FOR SHAFT MOUNTED MEMBERS 1 Claim.

My present; invention relate to means for transmitting thrust between a shaft; and a membar s1idably surruunding the shaft and more particularly to a retainer which shall be thrust bearing withoub damage to ehe shaft or the member slidable thereon.

In many instanceg in mechanics 117 is desired to secure a member and a shaft passing slidably therethrough against. relative axial movement. In the past lt has been proposed to form a groove in the shaft anal plane therein a ring of fiat stock against which the member to be retained engaged. Such assembly cf elemencs as heretofore constructed has been unsatisfactory because the ring wa pressed against the side f the groove near the surface of the shaft instead of into the bottom portiong. cf the groove. 'Ihis resulted in burring er deforming the shaft ab th edge of the groove so that lt was difficult to slide the member over the gro0ve, as is often necessary in such assemblies. Further, the amount of thrust load which cou1cl be safely carriecl by such means was less than desirable.

II; is the prime object of my invention, therefore, 130 overcome the above difficulties and provide a thrust transmitting retainer in the form of a ring, preferably of round stock, fitting in a groove formed in I3he shaft adjacent the member thereon, the member conuacting the ring in such manner as to press it evenly against a portion of the groove lying below the surface of the shaft as Iahe 1'ing and groove are viewed in radial cross section preventing deforming the meta1 of ehe shaft at the edge 0f the groove ancl resulting in a retainer capable of transmitting considerably more thrust than heretofore.

A further object 15 to provide an assemb1y of the character designated in which the ring is engaged substantially completely around its perimetey by a surface on the member so shaped as to contact the ring in the Quadrant of its cross sectional area opposite the quadrant thereof engaging in the groove.

A still further object is to provide a retainer cf the character designated in which the surface of the member to be retained. is so shaped that it engages the ring tangentially as the ring is viewed in radial cross section, thus forcing the ring angularly downward into the groove, thereby disoributing the load. over a considerable area of the ring and roove.

Apparatu5 illustrating the features of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application in which:

Fig. 1 S E S S 9 l View illustrating my 2 improved retainer in combination with a shaft and. a ball bearing;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the ring removed from the remainder cf the structur6;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view illus trating the engagement of the side of the membet to be retained with the retaining fing;

Fig. 4 is a view corresponding Fig. 3 and showing a slightly modified form 0f ring engaging surface 011 the member; and,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing a further modified form of the invention Referring now bo the drawings for a better understanding of my invention and particularly 110 Figs. 1, 2 and 3, I show my improved form of re tainer mounted on a shaft III. The shaft I0 has a circumferential, rounded groove I I therein. As hast illustrated in Fig. 3 the groove II may be slightly elongated axially of the shaft and embodies a portion I2 which is substantially semicircular as vievved in radial section, being struck from Ehe point I3, namely, from the center of the divided retaining ring I. The groove II is disposed adjacen one end of the member I;o be retained, for instance the inner race I6 01" a bal1 bearing I'I. The bearing I'I may be supported in a suitable housing member I8, and this in turn may be supportecl on a bracket I9 from any form of member 2 I.

The edge of the inner race I6 of the bearing I'I may be rounded as indicated at 22. When this surface 22 is brought into contact with the surface 01 the ring I4 it Will be seen that the engagement between these rouncled surfaces is tangential. Thus, force transmitted the shaft from the inner raue I6 is transmitted a1ong a line 23 which is normal ehe line of tangency 24 between the ring and. bearing race.

With the ring I I assembled, in the event thrust is applieol so the shaft I0 in the direction of the arrovv 25, 10ad 15 transmittecl so the quadrant of the portion I2 of the groove II opposite the line of contact between the curved edge of the inner rasa I6 and the retaining ring I6. Thus, instead 0f force being applied 130 the side of the ring I4 parallel to Ishe longitudinal axis of the shaff my improvecl assernbly transmits such force inwardly of the shaf, a1ong line 23. I have found that this construction prevents formation of a burr at the point 2'I a has heretofore been the case, and distributes the load over a large area of the groove.

By making the groove I I elongated axially, I assure that the ring I4 has ample opportunity 110 3 be pressed downwardly into the groove, assuring that it seats therein ab all times.

As shown in Fig. 4, instead of curving the engaging portion of ehe inner race I6 of the bearing I may fo1m the same as an angularly inclined surface indicated by ehe numeral 28. It will be apparent that the thrust is directed along the line 29, to th e quadre mt of the ring l 4 oppo sitg the quadrant en%3ged kiy the surface 28.

In Fig. 5 I show afurther rr1odified form cf my invention which 115 suitable for use on shaf ts having thereon a circumferential groove 3I not having a rounded portion. In th i5 cas e I may bevel the edge 01 the groove as at 32 so that the ring 14 contacts that side 01 the groov e ]ae1qw the surface, of the shai't along the dirciilau line"or shoulde'r 33. The depth of ggqoyg 31 is equal an: proximaoely to the radius of the ring I 4 as c 1e scribed in connection with the other niodifibations. Thus, when thrust is applied 110 the ring I4 by the curved suriace 22 of the inner roll I6, it is directed inwardly of the shaft a1ong 1ine 34. The ring H1 contacts the side of the gro0ve along the circle 33 anal also a1ong the circle 36 at the bottom cf groove 31. The total thrust applied is ohus divided between these two 1ines of contact. If the 1ine 341 bisects the angle between the bottom of th groove and the side thereof the thrust is equally divided betwe'en the lines 33 and 36. Obvious1y, I can employ either the rounded surface 22 or the inclined surface 28 With the modification shown in Fig. 5.

F1om the foregoing With either form of my invention 11; will be seen that thrust loads a1'e adequately transmitted to ehe shaft in such manner as 1:0 prevent damage to the surface thereof so that if desired the member slidable thereon may be slio1 along the sh-aft, over the groove, When the divided or split ring 14 is removed. Further, in view of the fact thaa I have decreased the unit pressure for a given load either by distributing it over substantially a quarter circ1e of the groove as 113 is viewed in radial cross section or by dividing it between two lines of contact, my improved retaining mehanism is capable 0f tra;nsmitting considerably more 1oad than those of the prior art. I am thus able 110 employ a ring of round stock as a thrust transmitting member instead of having 110 emp1oy a ring of fiat stock. In practice I find that in addition to the advantages already pointed out my improved as sembly is efiective to prevent rotati on of the inner roll on the shaft when under thrust 1oad While I have showfimy invention in associatio n Wifih a b a1l baring it Will be apparent 'ghat itis suitble for use With varigs f orms pi m eng1 b'ers which are relitiviel3i slidablle an a sl aa,ft. I have chsn ba11 bie'aiirig'fgi 11 111S131a131v pur- 4 poses on1y and it 1s to be understood that my invention is not limitecl to the particular kind. of member 130 be retained. In actual practice for ba1l bearings having an outer roll f about 2 inches in diameter, the radius of the curve 22 can be on the order 01 .040 inch while the radius of the ring and t;he portion I2 of the groove can ]oe on the prd er qf .03 i n ch I1; will also be notecl thatth 111195 13 .nd bfa.s sixig radially through the ririg are dircized substantillY a1; 45 inwardly pf the shaft. By making the surfaces 22 and 23 Cntact the ring so as to press it ab (15 into the gro9ye I aSSme th at the thrust is distributed v.enly 031er the quarter circle of the ring and porl; ign I2 Q f j;he groove or divided equa1ly bet\)viazficofitat lines 33 and 36.

While I hav.e s119wn my invention in laut two forms, it will be obvious to those skil1ed in the a1*ift1iiat it is not so limited laut is susceptible 01 various other changes alnd modiflcations without dparting from th spirit thereof andI desire thiarefor9, tht on1y such limitations sha11 placed thereupon als aie specifically sei; forth in the appendd c1irrx.

In combination, a shaft, a member surrounz1- mg the ha'ft, the shaft and member beim; sdabie xial1y relativeto each other, the1e being acircumferential groove in the shaft, adjacent the merpbere1rigated axia1l5 of the shaft anc1 1iaVing a, bortior; subtending an arc equa1 ab least sub;tantilly t o oi1efqurt1; of a circle as the 'groove is v iewec1 i1 x radial cross section, a ring 'of round s tqck Qf a ray dius equal ing the radius o1 s.igl p ortion of t;he gpooye agd fittihg therein,and sufface on t1gg member tapgentially contacting 15hering aioymd thg: sic1qe thereof in the quadrant; opposite thggua dranfig c ontacting phe groove anal at1ich ein ai'1glerel gtivga 120 ehe surface cf the r'mg BS to ;jrgeSsthe ring d ownwardly and invvard" 1y f thg s h21f1: w1 1 e n 1:he me rqbet m oves toward the groove.

SMEL P GE Refegences Gi@gd in the fi1e o f this patent UNI'IED STATIQS PATENTS Numbe1 Name Date Re.18144 Heiermann Aug. 4, 1931 965,666 Dimler Aug. 9, 1910 11'79060 Williamson I- Apr. 11, 1916 1192404 Ewart Ju1y 25, 1916 1213509 Lee Jan. 23 1917 1262370 Mead Am. .9, 1918 128'7463 Schwitzer -1.-- Beo. 10, 1913 1,418379 Karle June 6, 1922 16 50573 Sear1es Nov. 22, 1927 2522991 Gaserta Sept. 19, 1959 

